Hart had butchered that hand to a level hardly ever seen before on televised poker, but that was only half the story. Mila Monroe, his opponent in the hand, had a worse hand with just six-high to. Kevin Hart's Results, Stats. Date Country Place Prize; 12-Apr-2014: United States: $ 365 No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry WSOP Circuit - WSOPC Iowa, Council Bluffs: 7th. Kevin Hart wins a $40,000 poker pot only from misreading his own hand and decides to give almost half back to the other player. Star of the biggest blockbuster Hollywood films of the last ten years, Kevin Hart needs no introduction. But no matter how busy he is, the man from Philly always finds time to play poker! And Kevin isn’t just a celebrity player - he's an active member of the poker community too.
We've seen Kevin Hart participating in various high roller events for more than a year now. The actor and comedian has provided a lot of fun at the tables in the events he's entered while also allowing non-pros to experience vicariously the daunting task of competing against the world's top players. That's a topic we explored here a while back in 'Poker and Comedy: Kevin Hart Among the Super High Rollers.'
Recently Hart joined forces with PokerStars School to deliver a new series of strategy videos that combine entertainment with education. The initial episodes of 'Kevin Hart's How to Play Poker' series are online now, with the first one covering a few points of etiquette for those new to the game. Take a look:
In most games — those not involving Hart, anyway — you'll likely avoid getting popped for committing any of these violations of poker etiquette. Then again, you may risk raising the ire of your fellow players, thereby reducing the enjoyment had both by you and others.
Robert Woolley's excellent 'Casino Poker for Beginners' series covers all of these same topics and more as part of its comprehensive advice to those new to live poker.
Just this week we shared his recommendations regarding 'Etiquette When Sharing Space at the Table.' Woolley has also covered other basics like the order of play, rules and etiquette regarding poker chips, what it means to 'protect your hand' and when to keep your hole cards covered, among other topics useful both to new players and those with experience.
The second episode of Hart's series tackles the subject of giving off tells at the table:
Here Hart more specifically addresses how players should work to avoid giving off tells themselves rather than talk about trying to discover others' tells. This is in fact good advice, especially for new players — namely, to focus more on minimizing your own potentially revealing actions than worrying about what tells others might be giving away.
Author and PokerNews contributor Zachary Elwood has written multiple books on the subject of tells in poker. In his article 'Poker Tell Advice for Beginning Players,' Elwood suggests that while new players should focus more on learning basic strategy than reading tells, they also can help themselves a lot if they 'concentrate on being as 'unreadable' as possible.'
Elwood has additionally written here about other behaviors touched on by Hart in the video, including hesitating or looking worried, feigning relaxation as a false tell, and eye contact.
The third episode Hart's series covers 'How to Bluff' — a timely topic, since being able to sort out when a person is bluffing can potentially help you win a Platinum Pass worth $30,000 in PokerStars' new 'Truth or Bluff' promotion — read more about that here.
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Kevin Hart
Poker doesn’t make it onto TMZ often, but when Antonio Esfandiari was cornered by a cameraman on the streets of Los Angeles a few days ago, he spilled the beans on an exciting prop bet with Hollywood star Kevin Hart. We spoke exclusively with Esfandiari about the prop bet, how it came together and what the three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner thinks about his chances versus the actor who has both a height and weight disadvantage.
Kevin Hart Pokerstars
Simply put: Kevin Hart challenged Antonio Esfandiari to a boxing match at 35:1 odds, and ‘The Magician’ accepted despite never having boxed before.
The prop bet originated the way prop bets tend to do when Esfandiari and Hart were hanging out and bantering back and forth. Esfandiari had mentioned “trying a bit of boxing” in his latest workout, leading to him to joke that he could “Kick Kevin’s ass.”
Esfandiari said, “When I said that, he piped up and yelled ‘You have zero outs! Literally, zero!” and he was offered 50:1 on a boxing prop bet.
“Some mutual friends of ours told me that I have absolutely no chance and that I will get my ass handed to be, and they’re probably right, but at the same time, this will motivate me to get in really good shape.”
Does Esfandiari Have a Chance to Win?
The expert prop bettor and inventor of Lodden Thinks didn’t accept the bet right away, perhaps hesitant by Hart’s eagerness to make the bet, but after a few days of deliberation Esfandiari’s curiosity got the best of him.
“Am I going to win this bet? Most likely not, but at these odds, I just have to go for it. Plus, I don’t really have anything to lose. Everybody expects me to lose, and if I happen to win that will be amazing. If I lose, so what? What’s the big deal? If I win though, I’ll be the hero!”
While Esfandiari remained on the surface on the exact size of the bet, he made it clear that it’s for “a decent amount of money.” Kevin Hart, who played in the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl, has about a 40lbs weight disadvantage but an immense advantage when it comes to cardiovascular fitness.
“Kevin is in amazing shape, and he’ll be running circles around me,” Esfandiari joked, while also admitting that he’s never been in bad shape himself, but that he’s always mostly been focused on weight training and yoga as opposed to cardio.
“My weight advantage doesn’t say much when he’s being Speedy Gonzalez, hammering my gut to the point where I can’t breathe,” Esfandiari added.
“If we were in equal shape, I’d be a huge favorite. But we’re not, because this guy is a f***ing machine. He’s got a gym at his house and travels with his trainers, he’s an animal.”
Fans looking to watch or attend this fight that will take place in early 2019, will have to wait and see whether it will be broadcasted or organized in a public space. Hart and Esfandiari have been offered a way to monetize the fight, but they are not looking to do so at this point.
“This is just a bet between two buddies, and it’s possible we might screen it on PokerGO and some outlet he wants to use, but that’s pretty much it.”
Kevin Hart showing off his poker skills by eliminating Phil Hellmuth from the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl.
Esfandiari Lacks Prior Boxing and Fighting Experience
With a roaring laugh, Esfandiari said “no” when asked whether he’s ever been punched in the face repeatedly, emphasizing that part of his training will be to get used to taking some punches and building up a defense mechanism to that highly uncomfortable feeling.
“Hopefully I won’t lose too many brain cells on the way there,” Esfandiari joked about sparring and building up some resistance against the blows that Kevin Hart will be trying to land.
Kevin Hart Pokerstars
Only once has Esfandiari been in an actual fight, but he doesn’t think it will be much help. What kind of fight that was might you ask? Well, when Esfandiari was 16 years old he ended up in a fight over a girl on the last day of school before Christmas break.
“We took things to the railroad tracks, word got out and about 200 other kids showed up to watch. That’s the only other fight I’ve ever been in, but at least I ended up winning and the guy never got a shot in!”
When asking his good friend Brian Rast, who was previously in a prop-bet related fight versus Sorel Mizzi, for advice he walked away with a very simple thing to keep in mind: “You better practice getting hit.”
Antonio Esfandiari vs Kevin Hart: The Trash Talk
In the months leading up to the fight, Esfandiari will adjust his training regime to include a lot of boxing and cardio training, but he’ll also have to work on his trash talking game, as Kevin Hart is no stranger to some social media banter. Esfandiari, one of the most talkative poker players in the game, is ready for that challenge both in and outside the ring, putting the pressure in Hart’s corner.
Kevin Hart Boxing
“The thing is, there’s a lot more pressure on him. He’s got a lot more to lose because if he does, it was the skinny Persian guy who took him down! If I lose, the quick, skinny in-great-shape athlete took me down, so what’s the big deal?”
In summary, Esfandiari is realistic about his chances against the highly competitive Kevin Hart, but having even a small chance is enough for him to get excited over.
Kevin Hart Pokerstars
“I’m going to put up a good fight, and I’m definitely not going to go in there to get my ass handed to me. The least I can do is to give him more than he expects.”
Kevin Hart Poker Youtube
Looking for more from Kevin Hart and Antonio Esfandiari in anticipation of this brawl? Watch “The Best of Kevin Hart” and Deep Issues with Kevin Hart on PokerGO, as well as Pokerography featuring Antonio Esfandiari. New to PokerGO? Sign up now to enjoy more than 100 days of live poker action every single year.